


Loving Eliot. Or: Love story in five (country) rock songs

by merle_p



Category: Leverage
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-28
Updated: 2009-09-28
Packaged: 2017-10-06 18:37:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merle_p/pseuds/merle_p
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is not always easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loving Eliot. Or: Love story in five (country) rock songs

**Author's Note:**

> Written September 2009.  
> _Leverage_ belongs to TNT and Devlin/Downey/Rogers.   
> This fic was written for [](http://dea-liberty.livejournal.com/profile)[**dea_liberty**](http://dea-liberty.livejournal.com/)'s [](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/profile)[**leveragexchange**](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/). It's for [](http://maerhys.livejournal.com/profile)[**maerhys**](http://maerhys.livejournal.com/) who asked, among other things, for _"Hardison/Eliot with a side of Parker as their friend/colleague. hot schmoopy porn, snarking, sparring, kissing, cuddling, domestic scenes, jealous!Eliot, Hardison and Eliot hanging out, learning skills from one another."_

**1.**

When Horsepower meant what it said (Sandi Thom)

_Patiently waiting to get their old jobs backs  
Carrying the human race proudly on their backs_

***

"You know that we are here to _ride_ the horses?" Eliot says, leaning casually against the fence post, hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. "Not to kill them by feeding them treats till they burst?"

Parker ignores him demonstratively, patiently waiting for the sorrel to bend its head and take the sugar cube she's balancing on her outstretched palm.

"You know" she says absent-mindedly, rubbing the animal's nose affectionately. "They are actually not that bad. I mean, if you think about it. They are just like dogs, really. Only bigger."

Eliot snorts. "You don't have to tell _me_", he grumbles, but the soft pride in his eyes betrays his words, and Alec imagines that this is what he would look like at his daughter's graduation.

If he _had_ a daughter.

Parker, of course, doesn't notice; too occupied with the chestnut that moves to gently nuzzle her shoulder.

"See?" She says excitedly, turning around to give them a wide, happy smile. "He likes me! See?"

Eliot laughs. He walks over and bends over the fence, patting the sorrel's neck, whispering softly into its ear.

Oh yes, Alec sees. And if it's not the horse he's looking at – well, who can blame him?

 

**2\. **

You shook me all night long (AC/DC)

_Cause the walls were shaking   
The earth was quaking   
My mind was aching   
And we were making it and you_

***

"Damn", Alec exhales against the pillow, fingers still clenching the rumpled sheets. "I think you broke me."

Eliot laughs quietly, sounding just a little bit too smug; but when Alec struggles to sit up and groans, he grows serious.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah", Alec waves it off, trying to find a comfortable position against the headboard. "Just been a while since I've been fucked like that."

"So you _do_ have", Eliot says, and moves on the bed until he's sitting cross-legged, face to face with Alec, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Been fucked, that is."

Alec shrugs. "Well, duh", he says. "You didn't think I was a virgin, did you?"

When Eliot just keeps staring, Alec holds up his hands questioningly. "Dude, what? Don't tell me you want names."

Eliot doesn't even blink, and Alec sighs. "Of course you want names." He rubs a hand over his face. "Look, I – alright. Louis. Just Louis. And it was a long time ago – we were still living at Nana's back then."

"Louis, your _foster brother_?" Alec flinches at the sound of Eliot's voice. "Your _elder_ foster brother?"

"Calm down", Alec says, reaching out to stop Eliot before he can move off the bed, and Eliot lets himself get caught, even if his face is as dark as a thunderstorm.

Alec pulls him down against his side, wrapping himself around him, hands tangling in Eliot's long hair, tousled and damp with sweat.

"It's not what you think", he says against Eliot's tense, unhappy neck. "He didn't – I wanted it, alright? It was just two guys fooling around, that's all."

He can feel Eliot's muscles relax, just a bit.

"You would tell me, though?" Eliot asks, face still turned towards the door. "If someone had hurt you."

Alec combs Eliot's hair with long fingers, gently petting his head. "Of course", he says, and it doesn't even really feel like a lie.

 

**3\. **

Gimme three steps (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

_I said, wait a minute, mister,  
I didnt even kiss her.  
Dont want no trouble with you. _

***

He comes back from the bar with two more beers just in time to see Eliot get up from his chair.

"Excuse me?" Eliot says, straightening to look the other guy in the eyes, pushing his hat back with a thumb.

"You heard me", says the guy, who's easily got a few inches, and at least twenty pounds on Eliot.   
"Take your hands off my girl."

Alec would worry about Eliot if he didn't know very well that Eliot could easily take on that guy – and his bunch of redneck buddies with him. As it is, he's more worried that Eliot is going to take the whole bar apart, which, to be honest, wouldn't be a big loss – but it would certainly draw a lot of attention, and they are supposed to lay low.

"Oh fuck, no", he mutters quietly, setting the bottles down on the next best table, because he's got a feeling that he's going to need his hands. "Come on", he hisses and tugs on the sleeve of Eliot's jacket. "Let's just get out of here."

But Eliot simply shakes his head, and Alec's hand off, and turns around to point at the woman in question.

"Your girl? Hell, I don't see what a nice lady like her'd want with a chump like you, but we were just talkin'."

"Didn't look like that from where we were standin'," one of the guy's buddies says threateningly and slowly rolls up his sleeves, showing off big tattooed forearms.

Eliot merely raises a brow, but Alec knows him well enough to recognize the threat.

"Jesus", he groans, and steps in front of Eliot before someone can decide to throw the first punch.

"Look, guys", he says, smiling widely, even though he feels a lot like throwing up. "There's no need to get angry. He wasn't hitting on your girl, okay? He's here with me, and believe me, he knows better than to flirt with someone else while I'm in the room."

He reaches for Eliot's jacket again, fisting the fabric tightly, and drags him off towards the door.

"Now if you'll excuse us, Gentlemen, we really need to go."

***

"You know", Eliot says later, still sitting in the truck in their motel's parking lot. "Coming out as a gay, interracial couple in the middle of a Texan country bar is not generally considered the safest strategy to avoid a fistfight."

"It worked, though, didn't it?" Alec grins. "Did you see the looks on their faces?"

Eliot pulls a face. "You mean, the looks that said they were going to punch you as soon as they got over the shock?"

Alec shrugs. He is still grinning. "Aww, you wouldn't have let that happen, would you?"

Eliot turns away, staring out into the dark through the windshield of his truck. "You've got a lot of faith in me", he says, and there is something in his voice that makes Alec's smirk turn into something more serious, and softer.

He leans over and settles his hand on Eliot's leg, squeezing just once.

"Yes, I do."

 

**4.**

I don't wanna die in the hospital (Conor Oberst)

_Can you make a sound to distract the nurse  
Before I take a ride in that long black hearse  
I don't wanna die in the hospital  
You gotta take me back outside_

***

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Alec shrieks, almost dropping the bag of take-out he's carrying – and wouldn't that be a shame.

"What does it look like?" Eliot growls, while he struggles with a pair of jeans. Most people would mistake his expression for anger and annoyance, but Alec knows better.

"It looks like you are about to check yourself out", Alec snaps, "but clearly there's something wrong with my eyes, because I know for sure that you are in no condition to go anywhere."

Eliot simply grunts, but when he turns his head to throw him an angry glance, he starts to sway dangerously, hands reaching out helplessly for something to hold onto.

"Jesus", Alec shouts, jumping forward to steady the other man, not even looking when the bag with the food hits the floor after all. Eliot is pale, eyes wide and dark, beads of sweat pooling in the lines on his forehead and slowly making their way down his face.

"Get your ass back on that bed right now", Alec hisses, and if he wasn't worried before, he would be now – because Eliot obeys without protest, and as soon as he sits down on the hospital bed, he just crumbles under Alec's grip.

"What is wrong with you?" Alec says. "I know it's not the Hilton, but there's a reason you are here, remember? Punctured lung? Broken ribs? Head trauma? That tell you anything?"

Eliot looks at his hands, head bent, and Alec can't see his face. "I just need to get out of here", he says. His voice is actually shaking, and Alec knows he never wants to hear that again.

He sighs and slumps down on the mattress next to Eliot, so that their elbows are touching. "It's just a hospital, not a prison."

"People _die_ in hospitals", Eliot says hoarsely, and there's not much Alec can say to argue with that. So he doesn't.

***

They still haven't moved when Sophie opens the door some time later, staring wide-eyed at the mess on the floor and the both of them on the bed.

"Is something wrong?" she asks hurriedly, "Eliot, are you alright? Is there something I can do?"

Eliot doesn't even raise his head, but Alec, after a second, looks up and smiles.

"Don't worry, Sophie. We are fine."

 

**5.**

It ain't me, babe (Johnny Cash/June Carter)

_You say you're lookin' for someone  
Who's never weak but always strong  
To protect you and defend you  
Whether you are right or wrong_

***

When Eliot breaks up with him the first time, it feels like being punched in the gut.

"This is not working", Eliot says, and he looks so angry, _God_, "you want too much."

And the thing is: Alec _knows_ Eliot, or at least he thought he did, and he's still completely blindsided by his words.

So blindsided that he just stands there and lets Eliot leave, too shocked to even beg him to stay, and only after the door has closed behind the other man, Alec realizes that the expression in Eliot's eyes was panic and fear more than anger and rage.

The next time it happens, he thinks he should have seen it coming; and when, after the third time, he finds Eliot drinking and sulking at the bar in a dark, seedy watering hole, he's almost expecting it.

"Why do you keep trying to break up with me?" he asks, exasperatedly, and Eliot grunts and throws his hair back over his shoulder.

"I'm not _trying_", he growls. Alec sighs.

"You always let me convince you to take me back."

"Not this time", Eliot says angrily, and Alec shakes his head.

"If you actually meant it, you wouldn't even be here anymore." When Eliot doesn't answer, Alec sighs again, deeply, and lowers himself onto the bar stool next to him.

"What are you so scared of?" he asks quietly.

Eliot still doesn't say anything, doesn't look at him either, but he raises two fingers in the direction of the barkeeper, waving him over.

It's a start, Alec thinks, and accepts the beer that is shoved across the counter.

Nobody ever said that loving Eliot would be easy.


End file.
